Comparative Analysis of Point Difference between Winners and Losers in Badminton Women Singles

Abstract

Point difference in individual sports for performance or match analysis is a very niche area. The purpose of the present study was to compare the point difference between the winners and losers in three different phases of international badminton women’s singles matches. The data were only restricted to the 2019 World Championship matches of the women’s singles category for which the data of 105 games were used. The variables that were selected for analyzing the performance were maximum point difference and maximum consecutive points. The points for each game were divided into three different phases and accordingly the data were collected for all the games. In all the phases, the winners were found to be significantly (p < .05) ahead of the losers and the difference kept on increasing significantly over the phases with medium to large effect size. All the players who were ahead in the first phase of the game have won 70.47% of the matches. Similarly, players who were not ahead at any point of time in the first phase of the game, 75% had lost the game. Winners also had significantly (p < .05) higher consecutive points than the losers (ES = .65). On average, the winners were 6 points ahead of the losers in the second and the third phase of the game. In badminton, the first seven points are most crucial as they significantly increase the chances of winning. In this study, compared to the losers, winners kept on increasing the point difference in every phase. Whereas, in losers, the point difference reduced from phase 1 to phase 3. The results are helpful in enhancing the winning chances by tracking players’ performance, developing strategies and tactics based on point difference.